Archive for March 4th, 2010

Gluten-Free and Vegan Date and Apricot Bars

Ingredients:
4 oz dates, pitted
4 oz unsulphured dried apricots
4 tbsp canola oil
1 oz brown sugar
3 oz rice flour
½ tsp vanilla essence
½ tsp baking powder
2 tbsp date syrup
½ cup unsweetened soy milk

Instructions:
Combine soy milk, rice flour, oil, vanilla, baking powder and sugar in a large mixing well and blend well until creamy. Add the apricots, date syrup and dates and toss gently. Cover the bowl with foil and refrigerate for about 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit and grease and flour a baking tray. Spread the mixture onto the tray and bake in the oven for about 7 – 10 minutes.

Remove from the oven, cool slightly and place onto a cooling rack. Allow to cool completely, then slice the date and apricot bars into squares.

Fantastic for lunchboxes!

Heart Rates – What’s Normal

Most people are aware of the importance of a healthy blood pressure level. Often of lesser concern though is the heart rate. For good health and a long life you should aim for a resting pulse of about 60 beats per minute (bpm). A normal and healthy heart rate should fall within the range of 70-75 beats per minute for an adult at rest. This is known as the resting heart rate (RHR) and is an important indicator of physical fitness.

If you tend to live a very sedentary lifestyle your heart may beat 80 times per minute or more. Sitting in front of the television instead of getting a sufficient amount of exercise can cause the heart to work harder than it should. Your heart and lungs will be continuously overworked. This is especially the case when under physical or emotional stress. This can cause serious damage to the heart muscle and blood vessels. Other bodily organs may suffer damage as well due to not getting enough oxygen.

Like any other muscle in the body, the heart becomes stronger with regular exercise. A strong heart is much more efficient, both under stress and at rest. A well-oiled machine will last longer than one that doesn’t receive regular maintenance. The human body is much like a machine and will age at a slower rate when cared for properly.

In order to strengthen the lungs and heart it’s a good idea to engage in strenuous activities for at least 20 minutes. Most doctors recommend exercising vigorously every other day. During a good workout you should try to raise your pulse to a safe level of seventy percent of the maximum.

Exercising doesn’t have to be a lonely chore. Get together with family or friends and enjoy some fun and healthy activities like these:

* Hiking
* Cycling
* Jogging
* Swimming

It’s a good idea to check your pulse both before, and right after exercising. To get an accurate measure of the heart rate it’s a common practice to count the number of beats for 15 seconds and multiply by four.

Someone who is highly athletic can live a long and fruitful life. Consider Jack LaLanne for instance. He’s well into his nineties and still quite active. The rate at which the heart beats will decrease somewhat with age. Someone with his level of physical fitness likely has a heart rate in the range of 50-55 bpm. It just makes sense that Jack’s resting heart rate will be lower than average. The heart of a typical man over the age of 65 beats around 70 times per minute.

Eating a wide variety of healthy foods and avoiding sugar can do much to enhance your efforts to live to a ripe old age. And the years you’ll add to your life will certainly be more enjoyable.

Dandenong Ranges Training Sessions

Dandenong Ranges Training Sessions

There are a variety of ways to train up in the Dandenong Ranges – here are some pointers if you want to get a great workout on the mountain:

Hill Climbing – when doing training sessions in the Dandenong ranges, you have a wide variety of things you can do for fitness. One of the methods you can use is called the hill climbing method. Whereby you start at the base of the track, and power up the mountain timing yourself as you climb. Dandenong Ranges training sessions are about pushing the time limits, pushing your fitness, and really testing your muscular endurance as you climb. Ideally, what you want to do is take as much time off your climbs as possible. If you learn to keep track of what you are doing as you climb, by setting up a small spreadsheet at home, you can track how your timed performance is going as you climb the mountain.

Cardio Boxing – Another great way of doing Dandenong Ranges training sessions, is by incorporating cardio boxing into the routine as you climb. As you climb the mountain, you will be pushing your cardio. As your cardio begins to improve, you can throw punches into the mix. What you will need is a pair of focus gloves and gloves. And you do small bursts of punches on focus mitts as you climb the Dandenong ranges trails. The best thing to do in this respect is to start small, and climb slowly, as this will help you push your ability in a progressive manner. Pushing too hard too soon when climbing the Dandenong ranges trails, and you will make yourself feel very tired.

Cardio Kick Boxing – as your fitness improves, your Dandenong ranges training sessions can become more intense. What you do is begin with brisk walking up the trails, and as you near turns or flat ground, you start to throw kicks and punches in sets and reps. You will need focus mitts and gloves for this exercise. What you do is throw a 1-2 combination followed by a rear knee or kick. Because the Dandenong ranges trail is a hard in terms of punishing training sessions, you will get great fitness as you climb the mountain. The most important thing to remember when you are doing your sessions, is to push yourself as hard as you can in some parts, recover, and then push yourself hard again. The one good thing about the Dandenong Ranges Trails is that they are not easy to do, so you will be assured a great workout as you climb the mountain.

Body Weight Training – if you are feeling energetic, one of the great ways to get hard Dandenong ranges training sessions done is to apply body weight training to them. The more you do push ups, squats, and lunges on the trails, the higher your fitness level can go. The most important thing to take with you if you are considering body weight training on the trails, is a pair of gloves, to make sure you don’t get gravel in your hands. Otherwise, with these body weight training methods, you can increase both your muscular endurance and also your cardio ability, because combining a max out approach and even sets and reps of body weight exercises PLUS hill gradients, makes for a very challenging and enjoyable workout.

Cardio Training – Cardio training sessions in the Dandenong ranges are probably the most important things you can train. What you need to do in order to improve your fitness, is first be able to walk the trails without stopping. When you can walk them, run in small sections without stopping. When you can run in small sections, try running the whole trail. The more you can run the trails the harder it is on your cardiovascular system and thus, your fitness levels will increase more so.

The most important thing about the Dandenong ranges training sessions is to take your time in moving around on them. The more you push yourself up there, the harder it can be to recover some times. This is why if you are going to train up in the Dandenong’s, you must eat right, rest when necessary and ensure you pay attention to your body feelings.

Affordable Personal Training
Dandenong Ranges Training Sessions
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The Best Exercises To Flatten Stomach Muscles

There isn’t a person who can honestly say they don’t want to look better -

but sometimes we could use a little help… right?

Exercises to flatten stomach muscles have turned out to be a popular solution for many people wanting to look better. Let’s face it, when you think of what makes a beautiful person, it usually includes a sexy six-pack. But that isn’t the only reason why you should try to work off your gut.

Medical scientist have discovered strong evidence that shows a correlation between belly fat and a number of health problems, like diabetes. What you want to keep in mind here is causality… meaning that when you have a strong well balanced core, which is your stomach muscles, then the rest of your body is likely to be strong and healthy too. By focusing your efforts on exercises to flatten your stomach muscles you’ll find your body will experience less tension, better posture and fewer back problems.

I can guarantee that you’ll feel like a hundred bucks… maybe more once you lose the extra weight sitting right on your midsection. You can do these exercises for your abs just about anywhere and you don’t even need to buy expensive equipment to do them. That’s not to say equipment designed to work your abs isn’t beneficial, it’s just not necessary.

To get started, lay down on the floor and give your abs a good workout with some sit-ups or crunches. If you are looking for results, don’t stick with just one type of workout, there is a wide variety of different exercises you can try. Not everyone is the same, you’ll want to try a few different exercises to see what gives you the best results. There are a number of different programs on both home workout tapes and at your local gym that know how important your core is to your health, so they include some exercises in to their regimens.

Just to reiterate, there’s a great deal of reasons why you should do exercises to flatten stomach muscles. Whether it’s for looks or health it’s important to remember that everyone is different and will respond just as differently to their chosen work routine. Although, with hard work and perseverance you will get the flat stomach you want!

The good news is, once you find the right exercise routine you’ll see results fast, that is as long as there is no unforeseen medical condition.

Dan is part of a small team dedicated to sharing with you the best information on the internet about losing belly fat and getting a sexy, ripped body. We believe that a healthy body is essential to leading an active, healthy lifestyle. For excellent information on exercises to flatten stomach muscles, visit our site at PerfectAbWorkouts.com. Be sure to sign up for your free 10-day essential ab plan.
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